Strategic Trust-Building

Fighting for "New Russia"

The newfound meaning of “Novorossiya” is sparking fears of further geopolitical conflict in Ukraine.

In an article for New Europe, Greg Austin writes that until recently, the term “Novorossiya” was used by Russian official news agencies only to reflect its identification by others. However, in late June, in reporting by RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS—the official Russian news agencies—the territory seems to have joined the ranks of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as an independent territory.

While many throughout the world have been focusing on Ukraine-Russia negotiations and cease fire discussions, a very different reality exists on the ground. At least for now, the Russian government is remaining silent on the issue.

Read the full article here.

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Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 30, 2014

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(Interfax Ukraine) The truce in the east of Ukraine remained under strain as it was set to expire in the evening of June 30. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko prolonged a truce in the east of Ukraine until 2200 Kyiv time on June 30 in keeping with a decision by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
Five Ukrainian army servicemen died and at least 17 were injured in a 24-hour period from June 29-30.
A military base in Donetsk came under the command of the militants in the self-declared 'Donetsk People's Republic' on Sunday, June 29.
A Russian state TV cameraman was also shot dead while reporting in Donetsk overnight on June 29. Russia's Channel One TV said that Anatoly Klyan, 68, was fatally wounded in the stomach when shots were fired by Ukrainian troops near a military base. He was reporting on pro-Russian separatists in the area. He was the third Russian TV journalist to be killed in Ukraine this month.
Pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk took over the website of an independent journalist's union, announcing that a separatist-friendly "action group" will create a new trade association in its place.

Diplomacy News

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France were set to hold more talks to resolve the conflict in east Ukraine. Germany and France urged Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to extend a ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists - due to end on the evening of June 30 - for a second time.
"The death of a Russian journalist again convincingly demonstrates that Ukrainian forces clearly do not want a de-escalation of the conflict in the east of the country," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, following the death of Channel One TV reporter Anatoly Klyan in Donetsk.
(RIA Novosti) Russian investigators on Monday launched a criminal case over the killing of Russian TV cameraman Anatoly Klyan in Ukraine’s eastern republic of Donetsk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed State Border Guard Service Head Mykola Lytvyn to hold urgent consultations with Russian Border Service officials to negotiate a mechanism of ensuring effective control over the Ukrainian-Russian border.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian refugees seeking shelter in Russian temporary accommodation centers exceeded 17, 000 people, according to a spokesman for the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
(RIA Novosti) The European Council said on June 27 it would give Moscow three days to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, or it will impose new sanctions against Russia.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 27 that Moscow would welcome a longer truce between the warring parties in Ukraine, but warned it should not resemble a “postponement of ultimatum.”
(ITAR-TASS) Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that imposes prison terms for sponsoring extremism and for inciting extremist activities on the internet.

International Observation Missions

The four members of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission abducted on May 29 in Luhansk were set free by their separatist captors late on June 28 after one month in detention.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held prolonged telephone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and with his French and Ukrainian counterparts Francois Hollande and Petro Poroshenko, during which they discussed a plan to send OSCE inspectors to the Russian-Ukrainian border.
(ITAR-TASS) The OSCE announced that it may completely resume the activities of observers’ mission in Ukraine only after the security conditions improve.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 27, 2014

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Two European officials said that Ukraine will extend its cease-fire. The government in Kyiv will prolong the week-long truce, which it says has been repeatedly flouted by pro-Russian separatists, by 72 hours from an original plan to end it at 10 p.m. on June 27.
(ITAR-TASS) Representatives of the Kyiv authorities and Ukraine’s southeast regions started a second round of consultations in Donetsk.
(Interfax Ukraine) Five Ukrainian law enforcers were killed in attacks on the roadblocks of Ukrainian security forces in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.
(Interfax Ukraine) Declaring a real ceasefire between conflict parties will be the main issue to be discussed during consultations in Donetsk of the contact group on settlement in eastern Ukraine, leader of the Ukrainian Choice public movement Viktor Medvedchuk said.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council confirmed the captivity of the commander of a military unit seized by militants in Donetsk.
(ITAR-TASS) Militants belonging to the unrecognized “Donetsk People’s Republic” gained control over a base of the Interior troops located in downtown Donetsk.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov promised a tough reaction from the authorities if members of illegal armed groups do not accept the conditions of a peace plan put forward by President Petro Poroshenko and do not lay down their arms.

Diplomacy News

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a European Union accord rejected by his predecessor that sent the country spiraling into crisis. Along with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova also signed partnership agreements with the European Union, in a move strongly opposed by Russia.
(RIA Novosti) Russia’s official news agency, Novosti, on 26 June used the term “Novorossiya” to describe the territory of the newly declared “Union of Novorossiya” in contrast to the territory of Ukraine. Novorossiya, self-declared with a new constitution, is to be a union of the two rebel provinces of Ukraine: Luhansk and Donetsk.
(ITAR-TASS) The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Moscow is seriously preparing for a tripartite consultation on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to be held in mid-July.
(Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko described the Association Agreement as an instrument of preparing Ukraine for its full-fledged membership of the European Union.
(ITAR-TASS) The European Union's summit held in Brussels demanded that hostages be released, border checkpoints vacated and talks in the East of Ukraine started by June 30.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin said that the signing of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement is a sovereign right of Ukraine but this step will have serious implications.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union does not pose any threats to third countries and commodity producers may even benefit from it. Poroshenko said Russia should be interested in this agreement "because Ukraine can be a bridge enabling Russia commodities to enter European markets."
(RIA Novosti) A Russian deputy FM said that Russia expects the forthcoming expert-level consultations and ministerial talks with Ukraine and the EU on Kiev’s association with the bloc will be a step toward reaching common ground.
Russian President Putin said that the ‘anti-constitutional coup’ staged in Ukraine and attempts to artificially impose a choice between Europe and Russia on that country have pushed Ukrainian society toward a split.
(Interfax Ukraine) The European Council called on all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to fulfill the peace plan put forward by President Petro Poroshenko regarding the settlement of the situation in the eastern regions.
(RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded Germany as Russia’s most important partner in promoting peace and global stability.
(RIA Novosti) Ukraine’s chances of attaining candidate status for membership in the European Union are hard to predict, Stefan Fuele, EU Commissioner for Enlargement said.

International Observation Missions

(ITAR-TASS) Four OSCE observers who had been held hostage in Ukraine were released and were headed for Donetsk.

Constitutional Reform

(RIA Novosti) A list of draft amendments to the Ukrainian constitution proposed by President Petro Poroshenko was lodged with the country’s parliament.
(RIA Novosti) Russian FM Lavrov said that the Ukrainian government has so far made no practical moves to discuss amendments to the country’s constitution with the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 26, 2014

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(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian forces and separatist militants exchanged fire in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk on the evening of June 25.
(Interfax Ukraine) No emergencies or armed clashes were reported in Donetsk on the evening of June 25.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that there are reports that some militants ready to lay down their arms in the east of the country have been shot on the orders of the leadership of the illegal armed formations.
(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said that representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics have shown an interest in peace talks.
(RIA Novosti) Poroshenko called upon the clergy to participate in the implementation of the peace plan in the southeast of the country.

Diplomacy News

The UN Security Council once again supported Kyiv's assessment of the events in Ukraine, spokesman of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Yevhen Perebyinis said.
(ITAR-TASS) A spokeswoman said that Russian upper house lawmakers are seeking a positive Ukrainian response to Russia’s rejecting use of its army in the neighboring state. “We look forward to adequate steps from Ukraine which could settle the situation.”
(RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a phone conversation seeking to ensure the warring parties in Ukraine uphold the ceasefire.
(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the talks with Russia are aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine, but bilateral relations cannot be normalized unless Crimea is returned.
(ITAR-TASS) Russian border guards denied shooting dead Ukrainian militias who wanted to cross into Russia on the Ukrainian-Russian borders.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Deputy Speaker Sergei Zheleznyak said that extending the ceasefire and continuing negotiations is the only way to resolve the protracted crisis in Ukraine.
Consultations of the contact group of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE will continue on Friday, June 27, however the site for holding them is unknown as of now, former Ukrainian President and member of the group Leonid Kuchma told reporters.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Russia to show "within hours" it is working to disarm separatist militants in eastern Ukraine. He was speaking to reporters in Paris a day before a shaky ceasefire was due to end in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
(RIA Novosti) The Russian Investigative Committee intended to request that a Russian court arrest the head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Arsen Avakov.
(ITAR-TASS) Ukrainian President Poroshenko stated that Ukraine will start implementing the provisions of the Association Agreement with the European Union immediately after its signing scheduled for June 27.
(ITAR-TASS) A US State Department spokeswoman said that the US administration welcomes the decision by the upper house of Russia’s parliament to cancel its resolution of March 1 on the possibility of using Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) Ukraine invited European observers to its gas measuring stations on the borders with Russia and Europe to monitor the transit of gas to the European Union.
(RIA Novosti) Ukraine removed restrictions for Russian citizens crossing the Pletenevka international checkpoint on the Russian-Ukrainian border

International Observation Missions

(ITAR-TASS) Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister stated that Russia believes the OSCE mission to Ukraine should be raised to 500 observers.

Governance News

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he hopes early elections to the Verkhovna Rada will be held in October.
(Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko proposed changing the political division of the country, which should include regions, districts and "hromadas" (communities).
(Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko proposed to appoint presidential representatives to constituent territories for the coordination of the activity of territorial branches of the central executive authorities.

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Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 25, 2014

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The Ukrainian military accused the rebels of breaking the ceasefire 44 times since it began.
Members of illegal armed groups in Ukraine's Donetsk region fired at military roadblocks before noon on June 25, injuring ten troops.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that members of illegal armed groups continue to kill Ukrainians amid Kyiv's efforts to implement the peace plan of President Petro Poroshenko to resolve the conflict in the country's eastern regions.
The chairman of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said that its representatives are ready for talks to settle the situation in east Ukraine.
Less than 24 hours after a government helicopter was shot down in eastern Ukraine killing at least nine, Aleksandr Boroday, prime minister of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said it was not the insurgents who broke the short-lived truce in eastern Ukraine.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered leaders of the armed forces to open fire in response to attacks on Ukrainian troops by members of illegal armed groups, and said he doesn't rule out the early termination of the truce.
Ukrainian government forces disarmed a group of people who broke into the grounds of the Dolyne Oil Refinery (Kirovohrad region).
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Defense Minister Koval said that Ukraine has lost 142 troops since the exacerbation of the situation in March 2014.
There were reports of fighting overnight on June 24-25 near the Russian border in Luhansk region.

Diplomacy News

(ITAR-TASS) Newly-appointed Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin spoke in favor of a dialogue with Russia on Crimea.
Russian FM Lavrov stated that Russia is ready to hold consultations over association between the CIS members and the European Union, but if such agreements affect the free trade zone (FTZ) of the Commonwealth, Moscow will take protective measures.
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to publicly call on separatists in Ukraine to lay down their arms.
Western leaders warned Russia of new sanctions after fighting flared up in eastern Ukraine despite a truce between the government and pro-Russian rebels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin that new sanctions could be applied if efforts to stabilize the situation were not speeded up.UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said inaction by Russia would mean a stronger case for sanctions.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that a number of bilateral meetings will take place on June 27 during a visit by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Brussels, where Ukraine and the European Union are to sign the economic part of their association agreement.
(ITAR-TASS) Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Francois Hollande of France and Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, as well as Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, held telephone talks during which they discussed the promotion of Poroshenko’s peace plan in the east of the country.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to take concrete steps to stop the flow of arms and equipment to militants across the border with Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said that attempts to deter and isolate Russia are absurd and go against fundamental European security interests.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said he is confident that the association agreement with the European Union can be successfully implemented.
(RIA Novosti) NATO decided to extend its suspension of practical cooperation with Russia, because it sees “no change in Moscow’s behavior”.
(RIA Novosti) The upper chamber of Russian parliament revoked the resolution authorizing the use of military force in Ukraine following the June 24 request of President Vladimir Putin.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko said that he sees the decision made by the Russian Federation Council to withdraw the resolution as a consequence of the implementation of his peace plan for eastern Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) Re-settlers from Ukraine will be paid one-time monetary allowances, Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Kozak said.
(RIA Novosti) Kyiv bears full responsibility for the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, and blaming Moscow for it is “knocking on the wrong door,” the speaker of the upper chamber of Russian parliament said Wednesday.
(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said that Ukraine is ready to sign a package agreement with Gazprom based on proposals made by the European Commission.
(RIA Novosti) Russia will continue to accept refugees from Ukraine and send humanitarian aid to the residents of southeastern Ukraine until the situation in the region is stabilized, the speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament said.
(ITAR-TASS) Dutch FM Timmermans said that at the current stage, Russia is neither an enemy nor a partner, since other parties will usually rely on the partner’s words and actions.
(ITAR-TASS) Russia’s parliamentary upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that there is no question of “returning” Crimea to Ukraine, but this should not get in the way of normalizing relations with the neighboring state.

International Observation Missions

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter said that the OSCE would like to increase the number of its observers working in Ukraine.

Governance News

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Poroshenko appointed Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko as Head of Kyiv City State Administration and charged him with combating corruption.
(Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko said that Ukrainian remains the only official language in Ukraine.

Constitutional Reform News

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the draft changes to the Ukrainian Constitution dealing with the decentralization of power will be submitted to the parliament on June 26.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 24, 2014

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Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine said they will observe a ceasefire until the morning of June 27, responding to the Ukrainian forces' unilateral ceasefire.
However, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said pro-Russian separatists in the east had violated a ceasefire with overnight attacks on June 24 that killed one government soldier.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern over the reports about resumed hostilities near Sloviansk.
(ITAR-TASS) Local separatist militants stated that Ukraine’s military opened artillery fire on the village of Semyonovka near the town of Sloviansk in east Ukraine, despite a ceasefire declared by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic said Kyiv is not observing the declared truce.
A Ukrainian helicopter used for carrying military cargo was brought down by rebel fire near the town of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine, and nine people were feared dead, a government forces spokesman said.
(Interfax Ukraine) A trilateral group to implement Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's peace plan in the east of Ukraine reached a ceasefire agreement in Donetsk on June 23, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Parubiy said.
(Interfax Ukraine) A single-track section of the Donetsk Railway was damaged by explosions in two places on the morning of June 24.
(ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers made the decision to suspend the activity of Izvarino border check point in the eastern Luhansk region on the frontier with Russia. Armed hostilities began at Izvarino and on neutral territory in the evening of June 20.
(ITAR-TASS) A camera crew of Russia’s Channel One came under mortar fire near Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region; no journalists were injured, the TV channel’s website reported. It was unclear who opened fire and whether there were any casualties or destruction.

Diplomacy News

Russian President Putin asked parliament to revoke the right of military intervention in Ukraine, where rebels have been fighting government troops. Putin's move was aimed at "normalizing the situation" in the conflict-torn eastern regions of Ukraine, his press-secretary said.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s office stated that he considers the appeal of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federation Council regarding the withdrawal of permission to use the army in Ukraine to be the first step towards settling the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he considers it senseless to demand that the illegal armed groups in the southeastern part of Ukraine disarm while Ukrainian ‘radical forces’ are still armed.
Putin said that Russia will always defend ethnic Russians in Ukraine and the Ukrainians who feel inseparable ties with Russia.
With Ukraine set to sign a free trade pact with the European Union on June 24, Russia said it is likely to respond with trade barriers without seeking approval from Belarus and Kazakhstan, its partners in a customs union.
(RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the European Council’s report on Ukraine contains opinions that are biased, politically motivated and far from reality. It also stated that the EU’s attempts to punish Crimea for its reunifying with Russia are completely unacceptable. The Foreign Ministry went on to state that the latest actions of the EU cast doubt on the strategic nature of its relations with Russia.
(ITAR-TASS) Poroshenko officially invited Russia to send inspectors to the Special Monitoring Mission of the OSCE in Ukraine to confirm that Kyiv holds its promise to cease fire in the south-east of the country.
(ITAR-TASS) The U.N. Security Council announced that it will hold a meeting on Ukraine on June 24.
(RIA Novosti) The European Union welcomed Putin’s initiative to have a legislative permission for Russian military action in Ukraine revoked.
(ITAR-TASS) Austria has a reasonable, unbiased approach to assessment of Ukraine conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during his meeting with Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer. The presidents of Austria and Russia planned to harmonize their positions on the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer said he doubts that Western sanctions against Russia will be effective.
OAO Gazprom, Russia’s biggest company, moved forward on building a natural gas pipeline to the European Union to cut transit dependence on Ukraine. Gazprom and OMV AG agreed to create a joint venture to build and operate the 50-kilometer (30-mile) section of the South Stream pipeline in Austria at a signing ceremony in Vienna.
Putin stated that the weeklong cease-fire declared by the Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko should be extended and accompanied by talks between the government and the rebels.
(Interfax Ukraine) During a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed support for Poroshenko's initiative regarding peaceful settlement of the situation in the east of Ukraine.
(Interfax Ukraine) President Petro Poroshenko held talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the introduction of a new international security format with guarantees for Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Prime Minister Medvedev said the responsibility for events in Ukraine lies on the former and current leaders of the country.
The opposing sides in the Ukraine conflict must continue to hold talks, and a special envoy, who will be appointed later, will oversee them, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier in Vienna.

International Observation Missions

(Interfax Ukraine) OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter called for the immediate release of the organization's employees who were captured in eastern Ukraine.
(Interfax Ukraine) German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the OSCE observers captured in Donetsk and Luhansk regions will hopefully be freed soon.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 23, 2014

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced a weeklong cease-fire in the country’s east on June 20.
(ITAR-TASS) Poroshenko warned that the Ukrainian government has a ‘Plan B’ should the ceasefire be used by separatist militias to ‘drag time and regroup their forces.”
(ITAR-TASS) The Russian presidential press service said on June 20 that Poroshenko’s statement on ceasefire looked more like an ultimatum to Ukraine’s southeast.
(ITAR-TASS) The separatist forming the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic refused to lay down arms in response to the June 20 statement of Ukrainian President Poroshenko on unilateral ceasefire in southeast Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Defense Ministry, noted attempts to use provocations for violating the ceasefire that President Petro Poroshenko announced.
Representatives of Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Russian Federation began multilateral talks at Donetsk Regional State Administration.
Donetsk was set as the host of a meeting of the Ukraine-Russia-OSCE contact group on settling the situation in Donbas.
(Interfax Ukraine) Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov said on June 20 that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had shut down the Ukrainian-Russian border.
(ITAR-TASS) Russia's Novoshakhtinsk border checkpoint in the southern Rostov region underwent shelling by the Ukrainian military, according to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 20. "The incident has inflicted a partial destruction and a customs officer has received sever wounds."
(ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian Defense Ministry refuted Russia’s claims, issuing a statement saying that “Ukrainian military have not been using artillery or mortars” in the areas adjoining the Ukrainian-Russian border.
(ITAR-TASS) A shooting took place between separatists and Ukrainian troops and National Guard in the area of the Dolzhansky checkpoint on Ukraine’s border with Russia’s Rostov Region in the evening of June 20. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it had launched an inquiry into the incident.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Donetsk regional state administration dismissed allegations that 40 children had been killed since the government launched the ‘anti-terrorist’ operation in the region, with the Health Ministry placing the number of children killed at 4 in Donetsk with no data available from Luhansk.
(Interfax Ukraine) Two people were hurt in an attempt of the nationalists and supporters of an integral Ukraine to break through police cordons towards the Lenin Monument on Kharkiv Freedom Square where pro-Russian activists were holding a demonstration.

Diplomacy News

The Russian Presidential administration issued a statement on June 22 claiming that President Putin supported Petro Poroshenko's ceasefire decision in the south-eastern regions.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia backs efforts by Ukraine to launch an all-inclusive national dialogue and will also complement the efforts.
(ITAR-TASS) German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted the importance of implementing the peace plan unveiled by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
A high-ranking NATO official stated that NATO will create a Trust Fund to support the defense potential of Ukraine on the long-term perspective.
(RIA Novosti) The US added seven high-ranking officials from the self-proclaimed Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk to its list of individuals subjected to asset freezes and travel bans.
(ITAR-TASS) The Council of the European Union approved the sending of a police mission to Ukraine for two years.
(RIA Novosti) Technical preparations for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, created to establish a free trade area and political and economic bond between Ukraine and the 28 member states, were finalized.
The 28 EU foreign ministers prohibited any imports of goods from Crimea to the EU if the goods don’t carry Ukrainian certificates.
Several European foreign ministers threatened further sanctions if Russia fails to cooperate with Ukraine's proposed peace plan and doesn't stop the flow of arms and militants across its border into eastern Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the need for a sustainable ceasefire in the southeast of Ukraine as a condition for dialogue between the conflicting parties as he spoke with his German counterpart.
(RIA Novosti) The Russian Energy Ministry denied reports Ukraine is siphoning off gas bound for Europe, explaining that the gas meters are merely showing a technical recalculation.
Naftogaz Ukrainy expected three-party talks on gas with Russia and the European Commission to resume in July.
(RIA Novosti) Two of three Russian planes carrying humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees landed in Crimea and in the Rostov region on the border with Ukraine’s restive Luhansk.

International Observation Missions

German magazine Der Spiegel alleged that Western diplomats believe leading Ukrainian Cossacks could be behind the abduction of two teams of OSCE observers in eastern Ukraine, who have been held for over a month.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 19, 2014

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Internal Security News

(Interfax Ukraine) One of the Luhansk warehouses of Ukrainian confectionary corporation Roshen, which belongs to president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, was seized by militants and stopped working after being occupied on June 16.
Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists were locked in fierce fighting in the east Ukrainian town of Krasny Lyman after rebels rejected a call to lay down their arms in line with a peace plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko.
(RIA Novosti) The leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic announced plans to establish diplomatic ties with Georgia’s former region of South Ossetia.
(Interfax Ukraine) The bodies of paratroopers and aircrew in the downed Il-76 military transport plane of the Ukraine's Air Forces in Luhansk on June 14 were delivered to Dnipropetrovsk.
(RIA Novosti) A total of five media workers had been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the year, according to the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was set to meet with representatives of local authorities, political circles and businesses from Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Kyiv.
(ITAR-TASS) Russian media reported that Ukrainian troops opened fire on a church in Sloviansk, killing one individual.

Diplomacy News

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that at least a few thousand more Russian troops were now at Ukraine's eastern border, a build-up he called a regrettable step backwards.
The government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic intended to open an office in Russia.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Foreign Affairs Minister of the Czech Republic said that the Czech Republic is ready to accept for treatment Ukrainian military men and civilians who have been injured during the counter-terror operation on the east of Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) A Russian Foreign Minsitry spokesman said that the West is hindering the UN Security Council’s work on a draft resolution on Ukraine and Russia has called on the Council to show its commitment to the peaceful resolution of the country’s crisis.
(ITAR-TASS) The EU’s foreign ministers were expected to discuss a possibility of sending a mission to Ukraine at their upcoming meeting in Luxembourg on June 24.
(RIA Novosti) Hostilities in eastern Ukraine are a “civil war steadfastly heading toward genocide,” said Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US Vice President Joe Biden discussed on the phone the implementation of a peace plan. "Biden strongly supported the persistent efforts of the head of the Ukrainian state in restoring peace and calm in eastern Ukraine.”
(Interfax Ukraine) Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy met with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule and Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski.
(RIA Novosti) Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that Kyiv’s unilateral demarcation of the Russian-Ukrainian border can never be legally binding.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Australian government imposed sanctions on 50 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and 11 entities due to the crisis in Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) The Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights said that Australia’s decision to introduce sanctions against a range of Russian individuals and companies amid the Ukraine crisis is counterproductive, and warned that Moscow would retaliate.
(ITAR-TASS) Russia simplified its citizenship granting procedures for Ukrainian refugees.
The chief of the Russian presidential administration stated that there are no humanitarian corridors for people who want to leave the war zone in Ukraine and people are just being forced to leave for Russia.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that he does not expect Ukraine to become part of a 'western alliance' any time soon.
(RIA Novosti) Russian FM Lavrov expressed concern over Kyiv’s apparent intent to replace dialogue with brute force in Ukraine’s east.
(RIA Novosti) A spokesman for Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said that currently almost 19,000 refugees from Ukraine are living in Russia.
(RIA Novosti) Russia’s Energy Minster stated that Russia may continue talks with Ukraine only after Kyiv pays off its gas debt.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that establishing an operator for Ukraine's gas transport system and underground gas storage facilities involving companies from European Union countries and the United States will help both upgrade this system, boost its capitalization and respond to projects to build gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) The Ukrainian parliament unveiled on its website a list of Russian media that may soon be stripped of their credentials.
(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he plans to sign the economic part of the EU association agreement on June 27, during the Ukraine-EU summit in Brussels.

International Observation Missions

(Interfax Ukraine) The OSCE re-established contact with two groups of monitors who went missing in eastern Ukraine at the end of May, but neither group had been freed.
(ITAR-TASS) A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that Russia is ready to contribute to releasing OSCE observers in Ukraine but added that it is impossible to guarantee safety for the OSCE observers under the conditions of Kyiv's “punitive operation."

Governance

(ITAR-TASS) Irina Gerashchenko, the Ukrainian president’s envoy for peace settlement in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said that early parliamentary elections in Ukraine should take place in the autumn.
(Interfax Ukraine) President Poroshenko stated that Ukraine will present the president's peace plan for resolving the situation in the east of the country at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg on June 23.
(RIA Novosti) Ukraine’s parliament upheld the president’s proposal to relieve outspoken Ukrainian Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia of his duties.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Verkhovna Rada appointed Pavlo Klimkin as Ukraine's foreign minister.
The Verkhovna Rada confirmed candidates appointed on June 18 by President Petro Poroshenko.
(ITAR-TASS) The Ukrainian government allocated almost 200 million hryvnias ($16.8 million) to the Interior Ministry to purchase military equipment and personal armor for the ministry’s personnel and the National Guard.

Daily Ukraine Crisis Updates – June 18, 2014

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Internal Security News

(RIA Novosti) Ukrainian Interior Minster Arsen Avakov stated that Ukrainian investigators believe the explosion on the Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod gas pipeline in Ukraine was caused by an explosive device placed under a concrete block.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval said that Ukrainian armed forces are about to complete restoring control at the state border.
(ITAR-TASS) acting defense minister, Mykhailo Koval, told journalists that the Ukrainian army will unilaterally cease fire in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the next few days.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that Ukrainian law enforcers will unilaterally cease fire in eastern regions in order to give members of illegal armed units a chance to disarm themselves and Russian mercenaries wishing to leave the country to do so.
(ITAR-TASS) The UN’s head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the Americas, Europe and Central Asia stated that 356 people have been killed since the start of the operation in southeastern Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) A total of 147 Ukrainian servicemen have died during Kiev’s army operation in Ukraine’s eastern regions.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko insisted at the request of the OSCE on a thorough inquiry into the death of Igor Kornelyuk, a journalist of the Russian broadcaster VGTRK, near Luhansk.
Speaking at the National University of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s graduation, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared that “Ukraine is in a state of war,” and that Russia is waging “a new type of warfare - with the use of professional subversive groups, mercenaries, volunteers, and the local population. And these volunteers and the local population have ‘washed’ brains in a huge part due to the information war.”
(Interfax Ukraine) Four servicemen were killed in an attack by members of illegal armed groups in the vicinity of Luhansk on June 17.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk ordered concerned agencies and companies to step up the security of the Ukrainian gas transport system (GTS).
(ITAR-TASS) Luhansk separatists and the Ukrainian military started to exchange the bodies of fighters killed during Kyiv’s operation in east Ukraine, the press office of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic said.

Diplomacy News

(RIA Novosti) A spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee stated that Russian investigators believe the detention of journalists from Russian television channel Zvezda in Ukraine were carried out with the knowledge of Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Dnipropetrovsk Region Governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that he views the criminal inquiry launched by the Russian authorities against him and the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional state administration, Ihor Kolomoisky, as a high praise of their work for the benefit of Ukraine. “Thank you for highly rating my and Ihor Vasylyovych's work, "Avakov wrote on his Facebook page.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington does not yet possess information confirming the deaths of Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.
(ITAR-TASS) Russia’s Armed Forces are prepared for any scenario in Ukraine, Russian lawmaker Vadim Solovyov told ITAR-TASS, citing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
(Interfax Ukraine) Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine.
(RIA Novosti) Poroshenko asked Putin to assist Kiev in the release of all journalists and activists detained in the turbulent Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
(ITAR-TASS) Russia will not take part in the June and October sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unless the powers of the Russian delegation are restored in full, the chairman of the State Duma committee for international affairs, Alexei Pushkov, said.
(RIA Novosti) Russian FM Lavrov stated that the introduction of martial law in eastern Ukraine may give free hand to the Kiev authorities to crack down on independence supporters in the troubled region.
(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked the European Union and the United States to assist in bolstering control over the Ukrainian state border.
Russia’s chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, Alexei Pushkov, thinks broader sanctions could be introduced in addition to individual ones against Ukrainian leaders.
(RIA Novosti) Ukraine’s former ruling Party of Regions called on President Petro Poroshenko to initiate talks with the Russian leadership in an effort to resolve the situation in the country’s east.
(ITAR-TASS) The Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution "to temporarily suspend the accreditation of journalists and technical staff of some media in the Russian Federation authorities."
Russian FM Lavrov said that Russia expects the Ukrainian authorities to provide a full-scale rather than temporary ceasefire in southeastern regions.
(RIA Novosti) Russia was considering the idea of creating a contact group on Ukraine crisis within the framework of the OSCE, according to a senior Russian lawmaker.
(RIA Novosti) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Ukraine’s authorities to ensure security of the civilian population in the zone of the ongoing special operation in the country’s southeast.

International Observation Missions

(ITAR-TASS) The monitoring mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Office expressed regret that the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and security service do not cooperate with UN experts in investigating the tragic events in Odessa.

Governance

(Interfax Ukraine) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he is waiting for a decision by the Verkhovna Rada to hold early parliamentary elections.
(Interfax Ukraine) Poroshenko said that the army will always be the No. 1 priority for the state.
(Interfax Ukraine) The Ukrainian government approved a bill on introducing a state of emergency in the energy sector and a bill on operating and modernizing the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) together with European and U.S. investors.
(RIA Novosti) President Petro Poroshenko suggested dismissing acting Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchytsia in light of his offensive comments regarding Russian President Putin. Poroshenko nominated Pavlo Klimkin, currently ambassador to Germany,
as his candidate for foreign minister, the parliamentary website said.
Several draft resolutions on the dissolution of the Ukrainian parliament were registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked parliament to dismiss the country's central bank governor, Stepan Kubiv.

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